A Walking Tour With The Radical Monarchs

The Radical Monarchs came with their parents and a list of murals they wanted to see.

On a sunny Sunday afternoon, we met at the location of the first mural they wanted to see, Healing Waters for Our Sons and Daughters, by Vanessa Espinoza (Agana), Keena Romano and Leslie López (Dime). The mural, created on a wall part of a community clinic, was part of the Bay Area Mural Festival that took place in 2017. We began talking about how to look at public art because the girls were so young, and I remembered that when one of my nieces was that age and we went to a museum, she had mentioned she felt overwhelmed. The parents walked with us as we moved to Carla Wojckzuch and Regina Gilligan’s Anti Eviction Mapping Project, where we looked at repeating elements and size as indicators of important ideas. Stopping by Ssali’s beautiful semi-abstract mural, we discussed the importance of noticing what you notice after the first few minutes and how the artist had stylized many elements. Our tour concluded with Pablito Something’s Aquarium mural at the corner of McDonald and 23rd St, where we looked at overfishing, global warming and the spiritual world as themes. By then everyone was hot and tired and the girls marched home, chanting and holding signs with the name of their chapter.

We did not visit my BLM mural because it was a long tour for the girls, and by the time we reached the aquarium it was clear we needed to head back. They were a wonderful audience and I will always be grateful for the opportunity to show the work of other East Bay artists to interested audiences.

Ssali’s mural was not on the original list, but how could we pass something so gorgeous?